


At the edge of the world (Oh dear, it's you)

by LesEnfantsPleurent



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 5+1 I kinda gave up on, Cuddles, Dteam is kinda assholes, Friendship, Gen, Peace, Sapnap-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Temperature Difference, The start of the war, Wilbur Soot-centric, but the difference care, ngl, strangers to enemies to tentative friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29678889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesEnfantsPleurent/pseuds/LesEnfantsPleurent
Summary: The first time it happened, two hands touched from opposite sides, and the world calmed; time slowed to a crawl. The air was cleaner, the colours were brighter, and the flowers seemed to get bigger. The time had shifted to the right, and relief seemed to rise from the world as a whole.OrSapnap is burning alive and Wilbur is freezing to death, constantly. Somehow, they find each other.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 32
Kudos: 129





	At the edge of the world (Oh dear, it's you)

The first time it happened, it was an accident.

(Aren’t all things?)

It was early in this whole mess. L’manberg was nothing but a joke for most residents of the Dream SMP. Wilbur Soot, with his drug van and tentative territory and walls, was merely a concept.

The first time it happened, it was the first time that this concept solidified, from a joke to apparent reality.

They were having an official talk. As the great leader and server admin he was, Dream agreed to meet with the gaggle of delinquents.

He had assigned his two best friends to help him, his right and left-hand man, as he called them.

(Sapnap did not know which was which. Some part of him knew he didn’t want to know either)

The two of them (he) had slaved over a meeting area, but a place to allow the unruly to pretend they had power.

Before it happened, Dream was sitting at the end of the meeting table, the image of nonchalance. He was quipping back and forth with George to his right, the air light between the duo.

Sapnap was not next to his friends. The conversation was too slow, too soft (too  _ intimate _ ) for him to feel comfortable intruding in. He distracted himself by looking around the wooden build, deliberately ignoring the candles flickering near him. In another life, in another time, this scene would have been comforting. It almost was.

At least, until three sharp knocks shattered the illusion.

Dream shifted underneath the gaze of his friends, his posture straightening, his stance widening and the usually kind smile twisting in something almost cruel.

(Sapnap didn’t think more about that. He couldn’t.)

“Sapnap,” his voice raised from the hushed comforting tones to something sharper, something almost excited. “Would you mind letting our  _ guests _ in?” Sapnap nodded once and saluted with two fingers, half jogging from his spot to the door.

(Don’t think about George being closer than he was,  _ don’t think about it _ )

He swings the dark oak door open, louder than he should have in all honesty, and pairs it with his sharpest grin. It seemed to have its desired effect, mostly.

Three people had arrived. The younger two, Tommyinnit and Tubbo_, were staring at him warily, distrust lining every angle of their faces.  _ Good. _

The tallest one, Wilbur Soot himself, did not seem affected by his entrance. A perfectly white smile, just the right amount of eye contact, the pinnacle of diplomacy incarnated in one man. 

Distrust built up in the raven’s stomach at the sight.

The brunet extended his hand.

“Hello there, Mr. Sapnap. We’re here to have a diplomatic talk with your boss, Mr. Dream?”

Amber eyes squinted at him distrustfully.  _ So that’s how it’s going to go. _

He extends a tan hand, fully prepared to throw back an equally scathing comment.

He was not, however, prepared for the feeling of the taller’s hand in his.

And from the silver of confusion in the other’s eye, neither was he.

_ The first time it happened, two hands touched from opposite sides, and the world calmed; time slowed to a crawl. The air was cleaner, the colours were brighter, and the flowers seemed to get bigger. The time had shifted to the right, and relief seemed to rise from the world as a whole. _

Before he could start even considering what was going on, Wilbur let go. His face slid the mask back on. Any humanity that could have once been there was gone, disguised behind a layer of polite indifference.

“May we come in?” Sapnap could only nod, stepping out of the doorway, allowing the trio to pass through. When they were gone from view and the sound of Dream welcoming them could be heard, only then did move again.

The first time it happened, he let his gaze drift to his hand, coated in quickly evaporating droplets.

_ What was that? _

~~~

The world was a lukewarm bubble of water for him. His senses were dulled, and Sapnap felt as if he was floating.

The meeting had not gone well, from what he gathered when he managed to listen in. The bumbling group demanded independence, which Dream rightfully denied them. War was planned, he’d been told. And Dream expected him to help them maintain the status quo in any way possible.

Never before had the concept of war, of destruction and  _ fire,  _ interested him so little. Nothing mattered much at the moment but the thoughts that seem to be sinking through his mind.

His disinterest in the prospect had even alerted the duo, which is a miracle in itself these days. He was despondent. Any comments made burned through him, disappearing in piles of ashes.

It all comes to a head when George, rightfully worried, laid a hand on his forehead, and Sapnap  _ flinched back _ . The simple action had popped the bubble around him, bringing Sapnap ashore, landing him right underneath his friends’  _ confusedhurtworried  _ gaze.

At some point, the sun had set behind the hills. The trio had made their way to the communal base of operation. Sapnap had managed to worry  _ both _ George and Dream. 

(Wasn’t that a feat.)

Two sets of covered eyes were boring holes into his skull, matching frowns seemed to deepen, and George softly pulled his arm back as slowly as he could. Silence rang dangerously, and Sapnap felt heat build-up in every corner of his soul. It was hot, it was _ too hot,  _ it was wild and dangerous, consuming every inch of him and building up, and his mouth tasted like smoke, it was-

“Sapnap?” Softer this time, Dream pulled him back to reality, slowly shifting closer, as if approaching a feral animal.

(Is that how they see him?)

Sweat dripped from his bandana, and flames licked under his skin from all directions, and Sapnap had to flee.

_ Now. _

“I’m just tired. Goodnight!” and he was gone, skid marks where he once was.

It is only a short while later, wrapped up in too thin blankets and staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, that he let himself fully absorb what happened.

Sapnap runs much hotter than most. That is a simple fact, the same way that George was hard to wake up and Dream liked parkour. It was just real.

(Both of them found it vaguely uncomfortable to touch him, too warm, too much like a fever for them, and Sapnap understood, really. He didn’t mind at all.  _ Lies) _

He had always been too warm for the average human. Written in his nature. He didn’t know otherwise.

At least, he didn’t until he held hands with the opposite side’s leader.

He brought his hand up to his face, trying to inspect it for anything unusual. Nothing, of course. The water droplets that had appeared earlier in the day had disappeared as if nothing ever happened, turning into steam a few seconds after the encounter.

Wilbur’s hand wasn’t soft at all, no, calloused from years of guitar and writing and sword training. But the moment they touched, something had happened. 

It felt like the fire burning inside of him had stopped, the previously roaring flames no more than small flares, easily swept away with a thought. The bitter cloud that had been filling his lungs had risen, allowing fresh air to finally take its rightful place.

It felt good, it felt healthy, it felt like  _ peace,  _ the kind of which Sapnap had never felt before. And he wanted more.

He opened up his communicator unconsciously, opening the private messaging system. He typed something into the chatbox for Wilbur, only to immediately delete it. 

No, this was weird. They were enemies now. He couldn’t just ask. His head filled with doubt.

Wilbur had felt something as well, that was for sure. There was something in his face, a hint that Sapnap had picked up on, that told him they both felt something. Would it be weird then?

He typed another line, only to delete it again. And another one, permanently erased before actually being sent, yet again.

And so it goes, writing and deleting and debating and writing again. He finally slammed his communicator on the mattress, burying his face in the understuffed pillow, frustrated. 

It was nothing, he was just tired, he’ll sleep on it.

Or he would have, had he not received a message. From Wilbur, coincidently.

**_WilburSoot:_ ** _ So you felt it too. _

The man must have seen him try and send a message. Shame would have raged in his stomach were it not already filled with relief.

**_Sapnap_ ** _ : Yeah. _

A moment passed, Wilbur typing out something, only to delete it and start again. The three dots fed the flares of anxiety in the younger’s soul.

**_WilburSoot:_ ** _ Would you like to meet up? In peace, just you and me.  _

**_Sapnap:_ ** _ Now? _

**_WilburSoot:_ ** _ You think you can sleep if we don’t? _

Wilbur was admitting weakness, a perilous action a politician could take. He must either be desperate or firmly believe Sapnap wouldn’t take advantage of it. 

Maybe at another time, he would have, but he felt desperation as well. (How the mighty have fallen.)

He sends back coordinates and a time before getting up and dressing himself. He ignores the voice that sounds too much like his best friends, screaming at him to rethink it, to be careful, that he’ll burn himself playing with this fire. 

But Sapnap feels the need to go like he needs oxygen, the need for this knowledge consuming him.

And so he leaves the base to delve into the unknown.

~~

The location picked to meet was as innocuous as could be. A small hill, in which an even smaller cave had been carved out by time and rain.

Wilbur was already there when Sapnap entered the hole.

The difference between the man he saw now and the man he saw but a few hours ago was subtle, but present if you were looking for it.

He seemed more worried if nothing else. Shoulders hunched in, lips and faced tinted blue, curls unrulier than usual. Sapnap would have been almost worried, had it not felt like looking in a mirror.

The general was sitting against an andesite block, hunched over a small notebook. He didn’t react as Sapnap approached him. The younger takes matters into his own hands.

“Hello again.” Chocolate eyes snapped up behind golden glasses, making contact, emotions present but unreadable. He nods, places the notebook in his pocket and gestures to the other side of the room, an invitation. They’d both be sitting on the ground, face to face. Equals, but not yet trusting.

Sapnap takes a seat. Silence reigns. 

Was Wilbur thinking about something? His face was unreadable, face perfectly smooth, not even a twitch of his lips to betray a stray thought. Sapnap almost wishes he was as such. Him, all fire and steam and movement and yelling and violence and explosions. And here he was, face to face,  _ equals _ , with someone who reminded him of-

“Ice.” Amber eyes snap out of thoughts to look ahead. Wilbur was gazing at a spot on the ceiling, his breathing perfectly paced. “I’ve been told I feel like ice.” His eyes lower to meet questioning ones, in a perfectly controlled manner. The air is heavy between them, Sapnap let's him elaborate.

“I’m cold. I’ve been cold to the touch for a long time now. I haven’t felt  _ real _ warmth in a  _ long _ time.” A pause, a slow breath “ At least, until this afternoon.”

A lot you can say in between heartbeats, even when no words are said. Sapnap takes a shaky breath.

"I'm hot, as you've probably already figured out." His eyes meet the others', a mutual sort of desperation flickering in them. "Permantly burning, permanently aflame. Feels like I'll burn alive at any moments and be turned into a pile of ashes."

They gaze at each other, fire and ice, both raw open to each other. Sapnap, impatient, is the one who snaps first.

"Can I touch you?" The words feel heavy on his tongue, and he almost regrets them. Wilbur stares at him, his expression frozen solid. Sapnap does something impulsive.

He holds out his hand to the man he is at war.

What is even crazier, perhaps, is the Wilbur lays his hand on his, and laces their fingers together 

If the first time they touched hands was calmness and everything clicking into place, than this time, the second time, it was relief.

Something akin to euphoria bubbled up in both their throats, the cave air felt sweeter. The rocks felt softer, time felt slower and two sets of eyes meet, joy shining in their eyes.

Sapnap's the first one to burst into laughter, his smile slightly too wide for an average person. Wilbur only grins up with lips that are now closer to pink than purple. 

Noone knows who made the first move, but eventually, both of them are laced in each others arms. Sapnap's head is under Wilbur's chin, he's practically sitting in the older's laps and the hands not currently clinging to each others' are nestled in between locks. They breath in slowly.

Everything will be fine.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Officially a multipart fic, but not updated regularly. I think. Maybe. Who knows, not me :D  
> ~  
> Yo!
> 
> Hope you liked it.
> 
> This is totally me forcing my faves together.  
> Might be a 5+1, might not be.
> 
> Mmh, join the Writer's Block! Everyone's amaizing, I swear!
> 
> https://discord.gg/w9CwSK26mm


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